Marbles on Glass
by MasterPassionCreed
Summary: A collection of 100-word drabbles I occasionally post on my Tumblr account. Themes and characters range throughout the whole series, prequel and sequel stories included.
1. Shoes for orphans

**Marbles on Glass  
**_1. Shoes for Orphans_

Be a nice lady, now. Build us a pair of shoes for little Chell here."

GLaDOS stares at the creatures in disgust. There is him, the usual science face who survived – there is the bundle, white cloth, dark hair, and a pair of rosy bare feet.

Not even Morality can keep her few thoughts in line. The small piece of flesh wails too loud. Just like their faces – the sheer desperation of a man and a woman.

Murder, she thought back then. Murder she thinks.

She fades to black.

_GLaDOS Emergency Shutdown 100% complete_

_Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit test_

FAILED_

* * *

As the introduction says, this is going to be collection of 100-word drabbles. There is no plan behind the updates or the chapters. I hope you will enjoy your stay!


	2. One second

**Marbles on Glass  
**_2. One second_

There wasn't much left, and yet there was.

For one second, she always bothered to watch. When brains were dead and bones heavy, human eyes still talked. GLaDOS, indifferent, could and couldn't read them.

It took her one second to observe the misery of organic death, the clutters of protein and chemicals, now doomed to decay. The bloody white of their eyeballs looked like glass sometimes.

She showed no mercy in that second; in Aperture, what was useless had always been thrown away. Alive or not.

One second – then she shoved the corpse in the acid, and called forth another.


	3. Believe

**Marbles on Glass  
**_3. Believe_

Not even Henry was relaxed.

Always encouraging coworkers was not enough – stress and extra preparations had taken their toll on his optimism too.

And then there was Doug.

Some believed that a shaky mind could steal pieces of the future; and while he didn't want to believe that crap, his own research was slowly leading to it.

Of course – science has many mysteries. But what Doug's eyes showed had unsettled him much more.

Broken vents and green flooded Henry's dreams that night. GLaDOS' name echoed in screams, then and hours later.

When he activated his pet, his hands were shaking.


	4. Choose

**Marbles on Glass  
**_4. Choose_

Small hints turn into an open display, until the smell and dark colours become advice themselves.

_You can die anytime you want, you know. It won't be as painful as you think. Just a few bullets, or consumed in no time._

When you fall for what places say, you are lost – but this facility tells its truth, and she listens to it just to survive.

_Just one step and it's over. Seconds of pain for eternal peace – it's way too fair._

They always were liars.

_Moreover, you won't be missed._

Her glance hardens. She only stops walking in the chamberlock.


	5. Murphy

**Marbles on Glass  
**_5. Murphy_

It was one of the famous human sayings; just when you thought things couldn't get worse, they did.

Falling from ease to slight concern to anxiety seemed far from murder yet. Then, she did not expect death to be emotional torture – eternal until rebirth, and being killed again.

Die and be done with it did not fit her. Being a potato did – feeling powerless, unearthing memories. All along, with burning humiliation.

But when that door slammed shut, and then only, she understood. The truly worst part had been feeling something at all.

And the worst, she knew, would stay forever.


	6. 00

**Marbles on Glass  
**_6. 00_

Chell followed the numbers.

She held them close, before each chamber, as a small reminder; the neon signs always told her when it would end. A dozen tests, more or less.

As far as her eyes could reach, those were the only certainties. Finite, clear, promising; they were half of a certainty, and already precious.

She did know how the sequences broke - a sudden change came, each time, to make her start over. But the end of her track, late or early, was due.

She walked forward until she saw the sky. Out there, she found no more numbers.


End file.
